In the processing of milk and milk type products, it is a United States Food and Drug Administration requirement that the processing system must provide adequate protection to prevent raw milk from contaminating pasteurized milk and milk products. A typical milk process might be, for example, raw milk from the farm is placed in a raw storage tank in the milk processing plant. Then it is pasteurized and stored in a pasteurized tank. Thereafter the output of the pasteurized tank can be to directly fill bottles and cartons and be sent to retail stores for sale. But when the contents of the pasteurized tanks are to be used for other purposes, such as being placed in a blending tank, for example, to make chocolate milk, or being transferred to a truck for transport, this is regarded as a transfer back to a raw stage. And when this occurs protection as specified by the FDA must be provided.
In the past and also with all present installations of other parties, a vertical air gap separation in the product flow is provided. In other words, there is a pipe inlet above the liquid level in a tank and the milk or milk product falls through an air gap to the liquid. The result is turbulence and air causes foam and/or air entrainment. And it is difficult to deal with the milk product in this state since the weighing of the milk, for example, if it is to be placed in cartons or is to be blended, is very difficult.